Protective box



y 28, 1963 T. H. HAYES 3,385,423

2 PROTECTIVE BOX Filed July 25, 1966 INVENTOR.

THOMAS H. HAYES A TTO RNEY H United States Patent 3,385,423 PROTECTIVE BOX Thomas H. Hayes, Roanoke, Va., assignor to Creative Packaging, Incorporated Filed July 25, 1966, Ser. No. 567,521 3 Claims. (Cl. 206--45.14)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A protective box for articles, the box having an insert of sheet material folded upon itself and removably holding an article between the upper and lower portions of the insert.

This invention relates to a protective box and in particular to a protective box adapted for readily displaying an article therein.

Although there are many fields of merchandising which can utilize the box of this invention, my box is particularly directed to the jewelry field. In merchandising jewlry such as rings, bracelets and necklaces, it is desirable to package the jewelry item in an attractive box which will not only protect the jewelry article but, in addition, will easily display the article on the stores counter. A variety of boxes have been devised for displaying rings; and, in general, these have been limited ot securing the ring within the box without providing fool-proof protective means. Thus, in shipment of jewelry articles in such boxes, it is not uncommon to have the article jarred loose from the boxs securing means. If the article is permitted to be transported loosely within the box it is likely to receive scratches which, although minor, will nevertheless detract from the articles appearance when it is on a counter display.

The box of this invention is readily adapted for manufacture by standard injection plastic molding techniques. Thus, the expense in manufacturing my box is relatively low, and the box may be disposed by the purchaser of the jewelry article. In general, my box comprises an enclosure with a lid having latching means. A flexible plastic insert is formed to fit within the interior of the enclosure. The protective insert of this invention not only serves to securely position and protect the jewelry article, but, in addition, acts as a spring for the cover of the box. Thus, when the box is closed a portion of the insert lies over the jewelry article to protect it. When the cover of the box is unlatched, this portion of the insert springs upward to snap open the cover thereby providing an effective means for displaying the article.

It is therefore one object of this invention to provide a new and improved box for protecting an article therein.

Another objectof this invention is to provide a protective box which may be readily formed from plastic material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved box having protective means which also serve to snap open the boxs cover.

Another object of this invention is to provide a box which will securely hold rings of varying sizes.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent upon reading the following description in connection with the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the box with its cover open;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the protective insert of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section view of the protective insert in a lamination form and prior to being creased;

FIG. 4 is a section view of the box of this invention exposed to illustrate a jewelry article contained therein ice and showing in dotted lines the position of the box when its cover is unlatched;

FIG. 5 is a view taken in cross section along line 55 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a view in cross section taken along line 66 of FIG. 1 showing one type of suitable latching means.

Referring to FIG. 1, the box 11 of this invention is shown in a substantially triangular form. However, it is to be understood that the concept of my invention may also be embodied in other box configurations including rectangular boxes and boxes having convex surfaces. Box 11 is formed from a plurality of walls, three of which may be designated as side walls 13, 14 and 15 and bottom wall 16. A cover 18 is coupled to the top of side wall 15 by a hinge 19 which in the particular instance may comprise a thin Web of plastic material. Thus, cover 19 and walls 13-16 form a triangular prism enclosure which may be molded from a plastic material such as polypropylene as an integral piece.

Cover 18 in the particular embodiment has a pair of parallel V-shaped recesses 21 which cooperate with a pair of parallel ridges 22 on side walls 13 and 14. These recesses and ridges cooperate to maintain the cover in proper alignment with opening 24 defined by the side walls 13-16. The particular cooperation of these recesses and ridges is more clearly illustrated in the sectional view of FIG. 5.

Complementary latching means comprising a pair of lips 26 oppositely disposed on cover 18 and a pair of hooklike recesses 27 on side walls 13 and 14 cooperate to maintain the cover in a closed position. This latching means is more clearly shown in FIG. 6. It is to be noted that the latching means is easily released by depressing side walls 13 and 14 which retract the hook-like recesses 27 from lips 26.

The protective means 29 of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 and may be formed from a layer of flexible and durable material 31 such as polypropylene. If preferred, layer 31 may be laminated to a layer of soft flexible material such as polyurethane foam 32 as shown in FIG. 3. For ornamentation purposes a rayon flocking 33 may be sprayed onto the layer of polyurethane foam. After the flocked polyurethane layer 32 has been laminated to the polypropylene layer 31, the lamination may be subjected to a conventional vacuum-forming process to form positioning means comprising a blister or bump 35. Bump 35 serves to maintain the ornamental article in its desired location within the box. The diameter of bump 35 is small enough to serve as a positioning means (not a clamping or holding means) for even the smallest size of a ladys ring in order to easily remove the ring from the box. Although the particular dimensions of bump 35 in the illustration have been made to provide good seating means for a ring 36, it is apparent that the bumps dimensions may be altered to effectively conform with the internal configuration of a bracelet or a necklace.

After the protective means has been laminated, it may be creased to conform with the interior of box 11. Thus, in the particular embodiment, protective means 29 requires only one crease 37 as shown in FIG. 2. Crease 37 is positioned at a point whereby one section 39 extends exteriorly of box 11. The remaining section 40 of protective means 29 is dimensioned to fit on bottom wall 16.

Thus, referring to FIG. 4, the dotted lines of protective means 29 illustrate upper half 39 extending parallel with wall 15 and beyond opening 24. Bottom half 40 of the protective means is substantially concurrent with bottom wall 16. Crease 37 is therefore adjacent the joining edges of walls 15 and 16 and may be maintained in this position -by a pair of oppositely disposed retaining pins 42 which are molded integrally with box 11. The

preferred embodiment of the triangular configuration of this box utilizes a thin connecting panel 44 between walls and 16. Thus, the protective means may rest flush with walls 15 and 16 without having to severely deform crease 37.

When cover 18 is closed and latched, the upper half 39 of protective means 29 is deflected downwardly and over ring 36. The polyurethane layer 32 comes into contact with the ring and effectively clamps it over bump 35 thereby preventing the ring from becoming loose within box 11. The polypropylene layer 31 of the protective means 29 is in contact with the inner surface of cover 18. If the face of ring 36 should be relatively small, upper half 39 will nevertheless still be clamped down on it by the action of cover 18.

Inasmuch as protective means 29 is flexible and resilient, it is apparent that when cover 18 depresses the upper half 39 of the protective means, this upper half will become biased. Thus, upper half 39 when biased is urging outwardly against latched cover 18. When side walls 13 and 14 are depressed the latching means 26 and 27 become disengaged. With the disengagement the biased upper half 39 of the protective means is allowed to return to its normal position as shown in the dotted lines of FIG. 4. The return of upper half 39 to its normal position occurs in a snap-action manner; and, consequently, cover 18 snaps open and into the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4.

Thus, the box of this invention utilizes a protective insert 29 which not only protects the ornamental surfaces of an article, as well as maintaining the article in a secure position, but also serves as a spring means for snapping open the boxs cover 18. The result is a compact and inexpensive box which is well received in the merchandising field in view of its unique snap-open cover and display potentialities. Although the box of this invention has been described with particular reference to jewelry articles, it is to be understood that this box may also be adapted for packing frangible items such as delicate electronic modules and other articles requiring positive securement during shipment. Inasmuch as box 11 can be molded as a single integral piece, assembly of the unit is accomplished by merely inserting the creased protective insert 29 into the box and about retaining pins 42.

Although only one embodiment of this invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those 4 with ordinary skill in the art that other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A protective box for an article, said box comprising a plurality of side walls and a bottom wall defining an enclosure having an opening, a cover over said opening in hinged connection with one of said walls along an edge of the enclosure, releasable latch means cooperating between said cover and at least one of said walls, a protective insert of flexible and resilient sheet material folded upon itself along a single transverse crease to form a lower portion and a free upper portion having a free end, said lower portion having a raised positioning surface conforming with a portion of the article to be contained therein, said lower portion being positioned on said bottom wall and said transverse crease being secured at the junction of said bottom wall and said side wall opposite said enclosure opening, said free upper portion being deflected downwardly in a biased condition against said article by said cover when latched and in outwardly urging contact with said latched cover whereby said cover, upon being unlatched, is opened by the snap-action travel of said free upper portion into a raised position whereby said free end of said free upper portion extends exteriorly of said enclosure and adjacent said raised cover.

2. A protective box according to claim 1 in which said doubled protective means comprises a layer of soft material laminated to a layer of flexible durable material, the latter layer being in contact with the inner surface of said cover when closed.

3. A protective box according to claim 2 in which said plurality of walls define a substantially triangular prism.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,196,688 4/1940 Warner et al 206 X 2,861,682 11/1958 Hatcher 20675 2,967,638 1/1961 Burman 22035 FOREIGN PATENTS 228,727 12/ 1943 Switzerland. 247,509 12/ 1947 Switzerland.

MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner. 

